Thursday, September 10, 2015

Extra Crispy Tortilla Pizza w. Grilled Chicken

UPDATE: The Daily Meal selected my recipe as the winner of the Perdue "Farm to Family Meals" contest! Yippee!

As a health coach, I often work with clients on making sure they've got healthy foods prepared. Because, despite good intentions, if you don't have easy access to good foods, you probably won't eat good foods! Things like cooked brown rice, roasted veggies, washed greens, and grilled chicken breasts are all super versatile (quick salads, sandwiches, soups) so they come in handy in a pinch.

When I was invited through The Daily Meal's Culinary Content Network to participate in the @PerdueChicken "Farm to Family Meals" contest, I was ready to use one of my simple, tasty, and nutritious meal ideas. I selected the Simply Smart Original Grilled Chicken Strips; they are fully cooked and frozen, plus no antibiotics are ever used. I used this $1.50 off coupon; every time someone redeems it, Perdue donates a meal to the hungry through Feeding America. Bonus!

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Set a 12" cast iron skillet with a little bit of oil or ghee over medium high heat on the stove. Brown both sides of your tortilla to your liking. Take it out of the pan and let it rest on a rack, if you have one, or on a plate. You will notice the tortilla gets quite firm and crisp as it cools (like bacon!).

Toss the chicken into the skillet for a few minutes—the time will depend on whether your chicken is frozen or not—to warm it through. Once the chicken is warmed, cut it into bite-sized pieces.

Now, to assemble the pizza. Put the tortilla back into the cast iron skillet; this pan will help ensure the tortilla stays crispy! Spread the salsa onto the tortilla; top with the grilled chicken and the whites of the scallion; then sprinkle the cheese across the top.

Put the pan into the oven for 11-13 minutes, until the cheese is bubbling and beginning to brown. Remove from oven let the pizza cool in the pan for a couple of minutes. Slide onto a cutting board.

Top with chopped scallion greens, tomatoes, and avocado. Then cut into sections and dig in immediately, while the pizza is still super crispy and hot.

You can see here how that crust is curled up and firm, supporting all those toppings. Soggy crust is not welcome in my house.

A fun way to get veggies into your kids' bellies, am I right? Your kids can even help make this simple dish, spreading the salsa, sprinkling the cheese and other toppinds—talk about a simple weeknight supper!

I am very excited to try this! My 5 yo son will love choosing and sprinkling his own toppings. Do you have any special tricks for making more than one at a time - does it work on a pizza stone or baking sheet? This would be a great weeknight meal for my family.

As long as you brown the tortilla on the stovetop and let it cool and crisp up before adding topping it should stay crispy. I would crisp up as many tortillas as you need on the stovetop, then add the toppings and bake them on a pizza stone or on a rack over a baking sheet. These will help them stay super crispy. If you have to put them just on a baking sheet, the stovetop crisping should prevent them from getting soggy, but they might not be quite as crisp as in cast iron/rack/pizza stone. Let us know how you and your son like them!

I love the idea of tortilla pizza! At first I thought it was basically a tostada, but with the added sauce and putting it in the oven, it makes it almost into an entirely different creation! I'll be doing this for a date in the near future for sure.

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Justine and Flannery are sisters who share a passion for women's health. The Full Belly Sisters blog offers useful tools so that you can be healthy and informed while you're pregnant, breastfeeding, or just striving for balance in your life.

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